(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.Contact us for information about using this image.

label levels:

On September 26, 1843, a fire destroyed several barns, sheds, and other farm buildings, and two dwellings, in the village of Deerfield, Massachusetts. The local newspaper estimated that over 40 tons of hay and nearly 1000 bushels of grain had been lost in the fire. Only one of the structures had been insured, so the owners faced financial hardship, and possibly ruin. Since the cause of the fire could not be accounted for, some believed that it had been set intentionally. The town's elected officials, the Selectmen, offered a reward for information regarding the fire, but no arrest was later reported.